OC at Obama Rally

This is a discussion on OC at Obama Rally within the Open Carry Issues & Discussions forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; I usually don't follow OC too much but found this scanning through my hometown newspaper.
Jury to reconvene Friday in case of man with gun ...

Jury to reconvene Friday in case of man with gun at Obama rallyThursday, July 16, 2009
By Kaitlynn Riely, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Beaver County jury adjourned for the evening without reaching a verdict today in the trial of a man charged with disrupting a public meeting for taking a gun to an Obama rally in Beaver last year.

John Noble of Industry openly carried his Glock pistol to the Aug. 29 outdoor rally in a park across from the Beaver County Courthouse.

The jury got the case following closing arguments this morning.

Frank Martocci, the prosecutor, said openly carrying a gun to the political rally was "the equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded movie theater." He said free speech must be weighed against others' rights to peaceably assemble.

The attorney for Mr. Noble, Stephen Colafella, said it's not Pennsylvania's place to legislate or dictate under what circumstances a person can exercise a lawful right. Rather, he said, a political rally was the right place for Mr. Noble to openly carry a gun as a political demonstration.

"He wasn't there to disturb anyone or break up the rally. He was there to promote an issue that is important to him."

At the rally, Mr. Noble was carrying a Bible and handing out pro-gun fliers.

Members of the jury briefly interrupted their deliberations around 1:45 p.m. to ask Judge Harry Knafelc to explain "intent" and "disturbance."

The jury went home for the day at 4:15 p.m. after deliberating for nearly five hours.

"This is the first time that I've received a request from a jury because they are frazzled," Judge Knafelc said.
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I'm surprised that the SS allowed him to be in the vicinity...permit or not.

I don't know PA law, are you allowed to carry firearms at a rally/public gathering/demonstration? Some states do not allow firearms carried any which way at stuff like that.

Yes. He was not charged with a weapons violation, but for disorderly conduct. However, under PA law a person is only guilty of disorderly conduct if he:
1. Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous
behavior;
2. Makes unreasonable noise;
3. Uses obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or
4. Creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any
act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.

Yes. He was not charged with a weapons violation, but for disorderly conduct. However, under PA law a person is only guilty of disorderly conduct if he:
1. Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous
behavior;
2. Makes unreasonable noise;
3. Uses obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or
4. Creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any
act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.

Okay, well I'm no legal scholar here, but based on the above, shouldn't this have been thrown out and never seen the light of day in a courthouse to begin with?

Hours after asking a judge to send them home because they were "frazzled," a Beaver County jury found John Noble not guilty of disrupting a public gathering when he brought a gun to a campaign rally for President Barack Obama.

The judge also found Noble not guilty of disorderly conduct.

Noble was accused of causing a disturbance by bringing a gun to the rally in Beaver County last year.

Though he had proper permits to carry the firearm, a trooper arrested him for disrupting a public gathering.

During the trial, Noble testified that he wanted to educate people about the right to carry firearms after Obama characterized Pennsylvanians as clinging to guns and religion.

After less than five hours of deliberations yesterday, the judge sent jurors home last night without a verdict.

The judge said it was the first time that a jury asked to go home because they were "frazzled."

Deliberations resumed this morning; and about two hours later, the jury reached their decision.

Had he been convicted of the third-degree misdemeanor, Noble could have faced as much as one year in jail and fines of up to $2,500.

Just to clarify, he was OC'ing, which requires no permit in PA outside of Philly.

IANAL, but apparently the jury decided on the Disrupting a Public Gathering charge and the judge had the authority to rule on the Disorderly Conduct charge. Supposedly, the judge stated "You're all stupid idiots for OCing" when he issued the ruling, referring not only to the defendant but to all the PAFOA supporters who attended the trial over the past three days.

That was a good read (1st page anyway). I especially liked this quote:

I used to like talking with the agents, they really were nice people. Once you get past that part where they'll take your life in a millisecond if you try to hurt their primary, they're just regular people. With LOTS of neat toys.

"Run for your life from the man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another-their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun."

Here in N.C. it is illegal to carry at a demonstration,rally or parade. I wonder if the guy resisted the police or if it was an overreaction by the LEOs because of the proximity of a "politician". Just so there is no gray area, I have no use for Hussein Obama. I can`t begin to express the profound embarrassment that I felt when he carried this state in the election.